Joy Riding
by eternallydaydreaming
Summary: Ignis always tells the prince to keep the recklessness to a medium but does anyone ever listens to him?


A/N: Wrote this as a sudden inspiration based on a prompt meme on Tumblr for the following prompt: "keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times or suffer the consequences!" Hope you enjoy!

Joy Riding

Tilting his head back, Noctis closed his eyes as he relished feeling the sun on his face. The last couple of days had dampened his mood as constant rain pattered against the roof of the Regalia. Soggy camp sites made for cold nights. Despite cramped quarters as all four men shoved themselves into one tent, the body heat could not protect him from the drafts that snuck though the little pores in the tent. Unashamed the prince cuddled closer to his bodyguard, hoping the bigger man would shield him from the elements. However he still found himself shivering through restless nights. Finally the sun's rays poke through the clouds that morning, welcoming a most wonderful change in pace.

Now that the grey clouds had finally parted, Noctis wanted to soak up as much of the sun's warmth as possible, especially since Ignis agreed to lower the roof. That alone did not satisfy the young man though. In attempt to close as much distance between him and the midday sun, Noctis scooted his body up to sit on top the trunk while he propped his left leg onto the door. He let out a soft groan as he stretched out his cramped muscles; his knee cracked when he straightened his leg. Since his childhood injury, Noctis found it impossible to sit for long periods. His leg and lower back would scream with pain as his muscles and joints stiffened, which were amplified after waking up from one of his naps. While the Regalia was indeed quite spacious (hell, Gladio never complained about leg space), Noctis found that sitting on top of the car granted him the ability to increase his circulation more and work the knots out of his muscles.

Stealing glances from the rearview mirror, Ignis frowned as he watched Noctis patting his legs in rhythm to the upbeat song currently playing. Noctis's head swayed as he gazed around at the surrounding rolling hills, dotted with grazing herds. Furrowing his brows, Ignis stifled the irritated huff that threatened to flare out his nostrils. Why was it so hard for people to actually heed his advice? Not only did he have to monitor the trio as they rushed into battle (even the pre-emptive strikes they instigated) with reckless abandon, he too had to constantly remind them to buckle their seat belts and to keep their eyes on the road when he was finally forced to relinquish control of the steering wheel so he could rest. Rest didn't come easy however when Prompto insisted on driving.

Shifting his sights between road and the rearview mirror, Ignis's grip tightened around the wheel as his tried to strangle it with his growing frustration. As they rounded the corner, Ignis spotted an upcoming tunnel with a low hanging maintenance scaffold, which greatly decreased the head clearance.

"Noct," Ignis casually called back in order to avoid sounding too bossy. "Low clearance up ahead."

The calm demeanor betrayed his aggravation as Noctis ignored the warning. Ignis's arms tensed as he resisted resorting to his "mothering" tactics as Gladio cared to call it since it reminded him of the nagging that only a mother could muster. As the gap between the car and the tunnel began to close, Ignis peaked at the mirror to find Noctis still daydreaming on top of the car.

"Noct!" he yelled back. "Get in the car!"

Again, the warning fell on deaf ears.

"Noctis!"

Ignis resisted unleashing the prince's full name lest he should solidify his nickname as den mother. Yet once again, despite barking out a warning tone, Noctis still refused to acknowledge the low lying metal beam. The older man was tempted to reach around and grab Noctis by the leg and yank him back into the seat, but as he attempted to shift position, his leg pressed the accelerator. The Regalia sped into the tunnel, ramming the prince's head into the bar. The force of the impact tore Noctis's head back, spewing blood all over a wide-eyed Gladio. The royal head bounced several times across the road while the rest of his decapitated body slumped back into his seat where he should have been in the first place. Gritting his teeth together, Ignis wanted nothing more than to curse the prince and yell, "Didn't I warn you?! You keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times or suffer the consequences!"

"Ignis!"

Prompto's panicked squeal snapped back the driver back to reality. The blonde boy pressed his body back into his seat as he stomped his foot as if he had the break pad on the passenger's side. Finally spotting the herd of garulas sauntering across the road, Ignis slammed the break, lunging every occupant forward. Gladio reached an arm out and braced against the back of Prompto's seat while Noctis unceremoniously tumbled head first. A sickening crunch echoed in the air as Ignis felt Noctis slam into his back. Once the large beasts cleared, Ignis pulled off to the shoulder and surveyed the damage.

"Everyone alright?" he calmly inquired, feigning ignorance of Noctis's potentially ill-fated facial reconstruction.

"The hell was that?!" Gladio demanded. Having not flinched at the angry deep voice, Ignis quickly scanned over Gladio but did not note any injury on the larger man.

"Apologies. I did not see them coming."

"Dude, lame excuse," Prompto mocked. "Those are huge! You can literally see them a mile away!"

"Figuratively," the spectacled man corrected, trying not to laugh at Prompto's sudden dumbfounded countenance. "And you, Noct?"

Turning around, Ignis found Noctis covering his nose as blood seeped between his fingers.

"I think my nose is broken," came the pained response.

"Well, looks like no more joy riding for you then. Hope you learned your lesson and think twice before lounging on top of the car."

Ignis quickly turned back around before Noctis could grace him with a wave of his middle finger. Smirking to himself, he held onto this small victory before the prince would relapse back into poor judgment and complete neglect for personal safety. From the corner of his eye, Ignis found Prompto leaning over the side of car as an interesting rock formation caught his eye and attempted to capture the best angle, which somehow meant nearly halfway out of the car. Reaching his right arm out, he grabbed hold of the waist of Prompto's pants and yanked him back into his seat.

"Unless you want to wind up like our broken prince, I suggest keeping all limbs into the car."

Groaning at the lost opportunity to capture the picture, the pouty photographer quickly spun back around and snapped a shot of the bloody prince. Turning the camera around he showed off the results to the annoyed prince.

"Gotta admit, that's a keeper."

Noctis silently slumped deeper into his seat. Ignis could not be sure if it was to hide his humiliation or whether he was growing lightheaded from the pain. Pinching the bridge of his nose to combat the impending headache, Ignis prayed that if Noctis learned anything from this trip it would be how to sit properly on his throne.


End file.
